LSCS student demographics remain consistent

Published on: November 04, 2009

While reporting a 15 percent increase in student enrollment for the fall semester to more than 59,000, Lone Star College System demographic trends year over year have remained consistent in most categories.

More females attend Lone Star Colleges than males – 60 percent compared to 40 percent – and the dominant ethnicity for students is white, at 47 percent, although the Hispanic headcount has increased to 25 percent of the LSCS student population over the past five years.

In fact, the international student population at LSCS has registered significant increases over the past two years as well. International student attendance has grown from 1,867 in 2007 to 2,238 in the fall of this year, representing nearly a 20 percent increase for that two-year period. LSCS is the fifth largest community college in the nation as far as its international students, according to the Institute of International Education and its most recent report.

“We feel that the student population at Lone Star College represents the diverse face of the communities we serve and we’re pleased to continue to represent these students in new and innovative ways” said Dr. Donetta Goodall, vice chancellor, academic affairs and student success.

“In addition, we’re working at a fast pace on each of the college campuses, including the new University Park, to expand our facilities to better serve our students and our community,” Goodall said.

In age groups, the “Under 20” and “20-24” ages are still the dominant ages of students attending LSCS, with 28 percent and 36 percent of all students in these groups respectively. Other student age group counts include: ages 25-29, 14 percent; 30-39, 13 percent; 40-49, 6 percent; and 50-plus, 2 percent.

The number of veterans enrolling in LSCS has grown substantially as well this fall – more than 55 percent – due in a large part to the new Post 9/11 GI Bill Chapter 33 that went into effect in August. The enrollment jumped to 1,452 student vets this semester, which represented a 55.29 percent increase over the number of veterans enrolled in the spring semester.

College specific, LSC-CyFair enrolls the largest number of students for LSCS, with 15,175 for the fall 2009 semester, or 25.79 percent of the total student population, followed by LSC-North Harris with 23.03 percent and 13,549 students. The others were as follows: LSC-Kingwood, 15.79 percent, 9,293 students; LSC-Montgomery, 18.63 percent, 10,962 students; and LSC-Tomball with 16.76 percent and 9,865 students for the fall semester.

Most of the students who attend LSCS are in-district students, or live in the LSCS area and have attended a school district within LSCS – 88 percent of all students. Only 7 percent of students are out-of-district students, and the remaining 5 percent are out-of-state and international students. Of the in-district students who attend LSCS, the school district represented by the most students in the fall 2009 class is the Cy-Fair Independent School District, which sent 15,200 students to LSCS or 29 percent of the total. The next five school districts with the most students attending LSCS this fall are: Aldine, 5,544 students, 11 percent; Conroe, 7,025 students, 14 percent; Humble, 5,802 students, 11 percent; Klein, 6,769 students, 13 percent; and Spring, 5,136 students, 10 percent. The other five school districts represented in the LSCS coverage area are Magnolia, New Caney, Splendora, Tomball and Willis.

Lone Star College System consists of five colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, and LSC-Tomball, six centers, LSC-University Center, LSC-University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. With more than 59,000 students in credit classes this fall, LSCS is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and third largest community college system in Texas. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.